Its Sunday today, and I am not very well with some mysterious something that is making me shaky and feeling very blah. I dont get sick very often and when I do it easily sends me into the depths of self pity. So instead of that I decided to spend some time blogging instead 🙂 I shall attempt not to wallow in misery and find something much more interesting to share! Here is something I was working on last week and I am very pleased with the result. Remember a while back I shared my Neckwear Tutorial with you? (available now at Fiberygoodness). Since then I have been playing around with a bunch more circular loom stuff, and there is a big treat coming up! I can’t show you that yet, but I can show you something I made with a variation on the neckwear warp I shared in the tutorial. I am very pleased with this piece, and it has a story 🙂 Fond memories. I found this amazing paper yarn with a super fine silk wrap around it at Habu in New York on our whirlwind tour of the city (of course we stopped at the most important places!). Habu was amazing. It was inside what seemed like an office building, through the doors, up the elevator onto a fairly deserted floor. A few doors along the corridor and there was Habu, fairly non-descript, until you go inside of course and discover yourself in this treasure trove of fibery goodness! Its a smallish place, but the walls are lined with shelving thats full of stunning Habu products. Habu is a Japanese brand that creates yarns that are just incredible to weave with, although knitters and crocheters also find plenty to do with these yarns too. There were rolls of stunning fabrics with such beautiful prints on the tables in the centre of the room, baskets covered the floor, overflowing with fine mohair in every colour and the shelves were neatly stacked with cones of fine silks. It was impossible to decide on just a few things. But I finally narrowed it down to a few gorgeous colours of silk and this amazing paper yarn, which just fascinates me. There were a range of colours but I chose this one because it reminded me of woven flax, something we see often in New Zealand as flax weaving is a traditional Maori art. So I made this: This variation on the neckwear warp in my tutorial creates a shape that I think is more necklace like, its a bit finer and the clasp has to go at the back, while on the other design it could be either front or back and could...

It has been a few weeks now since the wonderful SWAY art yarn guild event held in Sarasota Florida. However I can still feel the warm sun and the welcoming environment that I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy there. This event is an annual one, growing every year, and the organisers, Karen Simpson, Deb Lambert, and Kim Perkins did an amazing job of creating a weekend full of great opportunities! There were some incredible products on sale from the well selected vendors, including the stunning fiber from Kim Perkins of Batts in the Bellfry (who I finally had the great pleasure to meet!), and really cool upcycled clothing, Saori looms and equipment (Kathleen Keenan) and the delightful Mary Egbert of Camaj Fibers who let me come home with some serious handfuls of her amazing Soffsilk product. The people attending this event were also amazing, so friendly and fiber nutty and fun, and what a great experience it was for me to meet everyone, in many cases putting real faces and voices to those I have met online through my Facebook page. We, (I had brought my daughter Ana along for the whole ‘USA’ experience) were welcomed so warmly it was easy to feel quite at home. Here are a few images from the days we spent together.. Above is Amy, who totally nailed the challenge she chose randomly from the challenge cards I made up for the event. Her challenge? Make a plied yarn without a wheel or a spindle. And what a yarn she made! Not only was it a perfectly spun plied yarn, she also went the extra mile and added in those lovely locks too! All done without the aid of any manufactured spinning equipment 🙂 And then there were other yarns created, including this stunning one from Mary (Camaj Fibers) As well as spinning we also did some weaving on the circular looms, supplied by Majacraft especially for this weekend:    I was very sorry to leave, there is something very special about a room full of creative people, the energy is fantastic, ideas and chatter and much laughter.  I think its one of the great pleasures that we have as fiber people, getting together and sharing these events, and I was also struck by the openness and friendliness of my American spinsisters,  I very much hope to be back in the USA again. My thanks to everyone who made it possible, it was an adventure that I will treasure 🙂...